THE Robredo Peoples Council (RPC) in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City are still keenly observing the outcome of the random manual audit being conducted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Manila, its officials said.
Former governor Rafael Coscolluela and Atty. Jessie Suarez, convenors of RPC - Negros Occidental and Bacolod, respectively, in a statement Wednesday, May 18, said they are specifically interested in comparing the results of the random manual audit with the election returns and that of the transparency server results.
"Lately, we see the evasive attitude of the Parish Pastoral Council for
Responsible Voting (PPCRV) chairperson to conduct random manual audits on machine-generated election returns (ERs) to be compared to the electronically transmitted ERs," they said.
There are 757 legislative districts nationwide hence all 757 clustered precincts will be covered by the random manual audit.
"The compared results of the random manual audit with the election returns and the transparency server results will determine our stand regarding the outcome of the national elections," they added.
Coscolluela and Suarez said they are also aware of the many questionable circumstances before May 9, 2022, national elections such as the observations made by Jarius Bondoc on the "failure of the Comelec to have the vote-counting machine (VCM) source code, source code of the central backup and transparency servers that add up each machine's count" certified by professional bodies as required by the automated election law.
Furthermore, the printing of the official ballots was done without the presence of candidate's watchers before the elections, the two local officials of RPC said.
"We are also alarmed by the many incidents during the campaign and actual voting, particularly the VCM malfunctions, massive vote buying and other campaign violations and malpractices that occurred with wanton impunity," they said, adding that "all of the above serve to diminish the credibility of our electoral process."
Also, they urged the Comelec to undertake the needed measures to resolve these "recurring irregularities and issues" so that future electoral processes become truly free, fair, honest and credible.
"The Comelec must be held accountable for ensuring the sanctity of the ballot and protecting the right of every qualified citizen to vote freely without fear nor harm," they added.